NZ forestry industry must drive workplace culture change

Between 2008 and 2013,
there were 967 serious incidents and 28 fatalities in the
New Zealand forestry industry, with 10 of those fatalities
taking place in 2013 alone. The safety rate for the forestry
sector is also far worse than in any other sector in NZ –
with the overall injury rate nearly six times worse than it
is any other industry (1).

As the forestry sector moves
forward with further growth and expansion (export earnings
are set to rise to NZ$5bn by the 2016-17 financial year from
NZ$4.3bn in 2012-13 (2)) global consultants DuPont
Sustainable Solutions are warning that something must be
done to counter the alarming safety track record.

Graeme
Iggo, safety advisor for DuPont Sustainable Solutions in New
Zealand, says that the first step in the right direction is
the New Zealand Government introducing workplace safety
reforms, and the Independent Forestry Safety Review (3),
which is currently underway. But he warns that unless there
is a robust strategy to drive change in workplace culture in
the industry, then the laws won’t be effective.

“The
‘she’ll be right mate’ attitude is prevalent
throughout our work environments and the forestry sector is
no exception,” says Iggo.

“As a societal norm, that
culture is incredibly detrimental to the way our workforce
operates. Whilst we certainly applaud the NZ government and
the forestry sector for stepping up to try and make changes,
the reality is that unless we educate and enforce culture
change in the industry, then the new laws won't be
effective.”

Iggo, a DuPont safety advisor based in
Christchurch, has been employed by DuPont for nearly 40
years and during that time has worked in countries including
Kenya, USA and Australia. He says for a relatively
progressive country New Zealand should have a far better
safety track record than it does.

“New Zealand is a poor
performer when it comes to safety in the workplace right
across the board. At least 75 people are killed at work a
year and 1 in every 10 workers is harmed in some way (4).
That number is nearly twice as high as it is in Australia
(5) and the reason for that is the culture embedded in our
workforce.”

“Unfortunately, it’s taken some major
tragedies for the government to realise our safety record
should be a lot better than it is.”

On 13 March this
year the NZ Government announced it was committed to
improving health and safety by introducing The Health and
Safety Reform Bill (6).

The Bill, which is set to be in
place by December, represents the most significant law
reform in this area in more than 20 years and will play a
major role in helping NZ meet its target of reducing its
workplace death toll by 25 percent by 2025. (7)

The
Independent Forestry Safety Review, which closed for public
submissions earlier this month, is aiming to identify the
factors influencing the health and safety of the forestry
workplace and is looking into factors such as leadership,
machinery use and processes.

“There are some
contributing factors that have hindered the way the forestry
industry operates, including the fact that it is one of the
highest risk industries in New Zealand, which is largely due
to the number of variables at play in forestry, like
terrain, weather patterns and wind in particular, and also
the ad hoc way a tree will fall if not properly controlled.
But the reality is that there is no justification for such
high rates of preventable incidents and fatalities, and
something needs to be done urgently to change
that.

“Employers should be 100% committed to providing a
safe workplace and making sure their employees are fully
informed, educated and equipped to ensure their personal
safety, and we believe this new bill should also
specifically target company directors and managers to ensure
they’re accountable and that penalties for non-compliance
are fair.

“But what really needs addressing, and what is
currently missing in this reform, is driving cultural
change. Employees should be supporting one another to
operate as safely as possible, through things such as
vigilance, shared learnings and good communication,
especially in a changeable environment like the forest where
awareness and proactivity is key. The “she’ll be right
mate” attitude is dated and no longer acceptable.

“So
how do we drive cultural change across forestry and other
sectors? We’re on the right track with a review because
the first thing to do is identify where processes are
failing and where costs are being cut. But where other
reviews often fail is when it comes to implementing change.
It’s all fair and well identifying the problem, but unless
tangible change is made to rectify that problem and workers
are educated, trained, communicated to, and cultural change
takes place, then we’re only setting ourselves up for a
short-term solution.

“The key is setting best practice
processes in place and encouraging workers to not only meet
those regulations, but understand how and why they work and
encouraging them to be the champion of enforcing them. We
want them to openly and proudly value their own and their
workmates safety and on a daily basis be doing everything in
their power to ensure they keep safe, are meeting
regulations and are communicating about any arising issues
or concerns.

“At the end of the day it’s these people
who are at the coal-face. If we can’t drive change in
safety awareness and behavior through to the people on the
ground, then this reform will ultimately fail.”

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